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I had this lovely surprise yesterday when I received this cover from Eric in France.

It has the new Marianne on, which, I must admit, I don't like at all.

I didn't really like the previous one either, and long for something a bit more original, like this one.

But the other stamps included on the cover are really nice, I think. They all represent values that are important to Europe, as the stamps are issued because France takes on the Presidency of the EU in July. The stamps show that the designer of the Marianne stamp, Mr Beaujard, is able to come up with very elegant designs, like this Peace stamp

Oh dear, the title sounds rather ominous, but don't worry, it isn't really.

Yes, it does mean that this is the end of this blog. But fear not: I have been invited to start blogging for Stamp Magazine, so if you like what I've done so far, I would welcome you heartily to my new blog, which you can find here:

Gentlemen
I believe it was the Dutch engraver Sem Hartz who once said when talking about recess-printed stamps that they are the gentlemen among stamps. And how true is that! He had just as outspoken an idea about multicoloured stamps: rubbish! In his view a well-engraved stamp only needed one colour. So he would hopefully have been pleased if he could have seen this post of mine, for it will feature nothing but monocoloured recess-printed stamps!
I'm still ploughing through the stamps I got from my friend Paulo, you see, and there's quite a few of recess-printed stamps among them. The set that I like in particular is the 1966 set to mark the Tercentenary of the Solemn Promise to Our Lady of Luxembourg. In plainer English this means that in 1666 the Mother of God was chosen as Patron Saint for the City of Luxembourg. The stamps are engraved by abovementioned Sem Hartz and are absolute gems. He seems to have a bit of a fussy style, but there's so much to see on these, it'…